Guarded
by Yamada Mikazuki
Summary: Is it right to love someone if you have secrets you refuse to tell them? Or did that make you unworthy? He wasn't going to be able to hold on any longer. He knew that much...
1. Prologue

**AN: So I'm deciding to put a short prologue in to try and patch up some loose ends. Cause some of the plot isn't really explained in the first chapter or the description. Not sure if it will really help, but I'll try. You know when you have those really big ideas, but you have trouble explaining it without giving it all away. That's what I have. Thus the prologue was born.**

_Third Person_

It was almost time for the final concert the blond thought to himself as he stared out at the crowd from his view at the window. There were so many people, and they were here to watch the band perform.

It never ceased to amaze Cloud how people would crowd around just to watch someone sing and dance on stage. They weren't any different from the rest. They just got the chance to show the world what they could do. The world had just happened to love it too.

"Roxas, come on. They say we need to go pick out our clothes." Axel, one of his best friends cut in from the door.

"I thought that wasn't for another thirty minutes." he answered, finally turning away from the glass to give his friend a confused look.

"Yeah, it isn't. I just thought that I'd give you a head start before Demyx gets his hands on them. Figured you didn't want to be late again."

The blond let out a chuckle before following the redhead out the door. Along the way he looked at the walls lined with posters about the performances that would be held here. Sure enough at the top in bright purple letters, were the words _Three Days Grace – October 21, 2003._

Another involuntary sigh escaped his lips as he read it. His head hurt. Cloud Strife, poor country boy. Roxas Bennington, the famous lead singer of Three Days Grace. No one would ever guess that they were the same person except for the ones who knew. God, he felt like he was in the Hannah Montana show.

"Hey Axel, do you have any aspirin?" the blond decided to ask. Said redhead stopped walking and turned around to give him a concerned look, before reaching into one of his pockets and handing it to him.

"You know I worry about you sometimes," he started and Cloud could already tell where this was going.

"I'm gonna stop you there. I don't need to be depressed for the rest of the night," he stated, giving him a warning look to just let it drop.

He could tell that his friend wanted to say something else, but complied and just continued on to the dressing room. Just as the blond was about to go through the door the redhead stopped him and whispered in his ear, "Cloud," the blond tensed at the use of his real name, "You know we're all here if you ever want to talk." he leaned back a bit and started to talk back at normal volume. "Time to get changed Roxas. Can't keep the fans waiting for my awesomeness." And the night went on.


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Dammit. It's like all the ideas I get are from songs... and games, but whatever! I need to just like wait to publish these because I have way too many unfinished ones already. Plus, this will not be taking the path of crisis core so guess what... Genesis and Angeal are still alive! So just pretend that they're not defaulty. Anyway here it is.**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Three Days Grace (I don't have any imagination when it comes to naming things. Plus, Three Days Grace just fit a little bit better then Linkin Park with my characters), the Kingdom Hearts characters, or the Final Fantasy world. Nor do I own the Linkin Park, Three Days Grace, or other songs used in this fanfic.**

** P.S. If the pairing wasn't hint enough, this is malexmale. I don't take kindly to homophobic comments.**

_ Third Person_

It was a cold October day. Friday to be exact, which made things all the better for the fans of the band that was performing in the city tonight. This band, Three Days Grace, was currently on their last performance for their world wide tour in Kalm. The tickets were sold out, just like the rest of their concerts, and the stadium was flooded from the inside and out. About an hour after the time they finally started to open the gates, the security finally got the raging fans under control.

Things became as quiet as a graveyard when the smoke and first few chords began to rumble over the speakers.

_Every time we lie awake_

_ After every hit we take_

_ Every feeling that I get_

_ But I haven't missed you yet_

_ Every roommate gets awake_

_ By every sigh and scream we make_

_ All the feelings that I get_

_ But I still don't miss you yet_

_ Only when I stop to think about it..._

XXXXX

Back at ShinRa almost everyone was watching this televised event. Even Zack Fair. Or maybe that was because his friends, Reno and Cissnei, over.

"Zack! If we miss even one second of their songs I'm gonna have Reno zap your ass off with that EMR of his!" Cissnei yelled while chasing the said ravenette throughout his apartment. To any bystander it would have looked like Zack was terrified, but he was actually having the best time annoying Cissnei.

"Hey, is it even possible to zap someones ass off?" he quickly threw over his shoulder.

"Trust me yo, I'll find a way," the lazy red head threw in from his position on the couch. "Aw, but I thought we were friends," Zack whined, stopping in front of the couch. Big mistake. The little brunette was still on his tale and came crashing into him, knocking them both onto the ground.

"Ha!" she triumphed as she took the remote from the slightly dazed Zack. The TV was then settled on the currently over used channel while the raven haired soldier still lie on the ground. The first verse started to play.

To be honest Zack had heard of this band just not their music, nor had he seen the people. He had called Reno and Cissnei over after leaving Cloud's room. If the blonde didn't have a hundred and three fever they wouldn't even be watching this now. Well, actually if Cloud hadn't forced him to go out and have fun with some of his other friends he wouldn't be here now. The blonde had been sick for a while now with all sorts of things, stomach flu, fever, even mono. Zack was getting worried, the boy had been drawing in sickness like a magnet. And much to the blondes protests, the soldier took care of him. This was the first night in a few weeks that he had not been spending his favorite chocobo.

Of course he forgot that tonight was the concert, so as soon as the invitation presented itself, the redhead and the brunette were taking over his home. He sat there reminiscing about it. Only when the chorus rang out did he lift his head up to see the person behind that voice.

_I hate everything about you_

_ Why do I love you_

_ I hate everything about you_

_ Why do I love you?_

The teen was amazing. He looked like he just lived the music. Zack finally pulled himself up to an upright position so he could get a better view of the screen. The boy had dark brown hair, kinda black, and had fair skin that was almost white, but a bit darker. His hair was layered and cropped, about time to get it cut again. Also milk chocolate brown eyes stared out into the audience, face over all ,he couldn't be any older than fifteen.

_Every time we lie awake_

_ After every hit we take_

_ Every feeling that I get_

_ But I haven't missed you yet_

_ Only when I stop to think about it..._

After realizing that this second verse was very similar to the first he took that time to study the other players. The one to the singers immediate left was a lanky looking guy with hair a cross between a mohawk and a mullet. The other guitarist had silver hair covering one of his eyes. And the drummer... Oh Gaia. The guy looked just like Reno. Their tattoos were just in different shaped and hair in different styles. One word: Questions.

_I hate everything about you_

_ Why do I love you_

_ I hate everything about you_

_ Why do I love you_

_ Only when I stop to think about you, I know_

_ Only when you stop to think about me, do you know?_

_ I hate everything about you_

_ Why do I love you_

_ You hate everything about me_

_ Why do you love me_

_ I hate, you hate_

_ I hate, you love me _

_ I hate everything about you_

_ Why do I love you...?_

The song ended and even though he wasn't there he thought his eardrums would pop from the cheering. The rest of the night went on like that. The concert that had started at 10:00 PM ended at 2:00 AM and not once did the fans or the band seem to tire. But Zack got tired as soon as the TV screen went black, as did Reno and Cissnei.

The soldier waited for his friends to go out the door before following them and locking the door. "Where are you going?"Cissnei asked.

"To see Cloud," he replied with a barely noticeable blush over his tan face. It was no secret to anyone that Zack had a big crush on Cloud, possibly more, but no one ever called him out on it.

"Oh yeah! How's that kid doin' yo? I know he's been bedridden since like, what, May," the red head queried. Zack winced. It was August. The ravenette was getting very concerned about the blondes condition. It seemed like as soon as he was about to get better another illness came along. He could still sit up and move his limbs, but was only able to stand up for a short amount of time before his body would over work itself. Is that still even considered bedridden? While the feeling a knife being carved into his heart, Zack recalled the first time that Cloud had collapsed.

XXXXX

_"Hey Zack, I'm gonna go get some water. You want anything?" Cloud asked, getting up from the couch. The soldier turned his head toward the cadet retreating into the kitchen and called out, "No thanks, I'm good. You sure you're okay?" he asked in a worried tone as the blonde stumbled a bit before finally making it into the kitchen._

_ "Yeah. I'm just tired," Cloud's voice came out from the other room. Zack let out a slight breath of relief and sank down into the couch a bit more. They had just gotten back from training. The soldier wasn't too keen on the idea, but finally caved after a few minutes of Cloud pleading. They pair didn't end up doing too much, just a little bit of what Cloud had learned in class. No sparring. Zack didn't want to push him past his ability for the day._

_ The cadet was actually excelling many of his peers. One of the reasons that the 2__nd__ class had even considered taking up the small blonde as a student. But that was a different flashback. The soldier was suddenly ripped out of his thoughts by the sound of shattering glass that was soon followed by a loud thump coming from his kitchen.  
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_ "Cloud?" the ravenette called out as he rushed into the kitchen. There the cadet lay on the tile floor, clutching his head in a tight grip. "Cloud? What's wrong?" Zack shouted skidding to a stop on his knees fallen cadet. The was no blood anywhere, just some sparkling glass in the sink._

_ "My head..." he trailed off, "Hurts so bad..." Before the blonde passed out. The soldier sat there for a second just staring at the boy that was out cold in his arms before coming to his senses and running him down to the infirmary._

_ Someone was able to sneak out of the ShinRa grounds that night. _

XXXXX

"Zack. Zack?" a familiar voice called to him, snapping him out of his flashback. The ravenette stared at his friends for a second before stupidly asking, "Huh?"

"I asked how Cloud was doin' yo." the redheaded repeated a little slower. "Oh, um, he's down with the fever now. 103 degrees the last time I was there. It looks like it's starting to get better, but I'm not too willing to get my hopes ups." the soldier replied a little dull.

"Didn't he have that 106 degree fever just a few days ago?" Cissnei cut in. Turks may not show emotions very often, but this one cadet had the power to make his way into anyones heart once he opened up a bit. They checked in every few days for the blondes condition.

"Yeah," Zack said as he tried to find a way to get out of the conversation without seeming rude, "I'm just gonna go visit him. I'll see you guys soon 'kay?" he said quickly already walking towards the cadets room without an answer. _So much for not seeming rude._ The soldier thought.

XXXXX

The walk to Cloud's room was very tedious and nerve racking at the same time. Whenever there was someone in the same hall as him he would walk, and as soon as the person turned around the corner the soldier would break out into a run. While he was walking he couldn't help but to worry. What if the cadet had fell down on his way to the bathroom and broke a bone? What if he had passed out while taking a bath and was drowning? Or what if he had simply come down with a even worse illness then what he had had already?

It was these thoughts that made Zack nearly rip off the door in frustration before thinking better of it and taking out a key.

"Cloud?" he called out as soon as he got through the door frame. His heart only sank into his stomach when he turned around after closing the door. The blonde didn't like people seeing him this 'weak' as he put it.

"_Clou-" _the ravenette started toshout in panic before he was cut off by the bathroom door opening. The small blonde was standing there with a towel in his hand from drying his still wet hair, and was sporting sweat pants and a grey shirt that were slowly becoming too big for him.

"Yeah?" Cloud asked after the soldier seemed to become speechless. The silence stretched on for a few moments before the cadet started to make his way towards the bed.

It was only as he started to stumble and collapse did Zack react and quickly catch the teen.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly trying to forget the fact that he had his crush right there in his arms.

"Y-yeah, just got dizzy." the blonde quickly assures, but can't make it very convincing due to the fact that he's avoiding Zack's eyes. As he does this the ravenette can't help but notice that there is a dark brown paint-like substance behind his ear.

"What's that behind your ear?" he asked after he had helped the blond out of the uncomfortable angle and onto the bed.

"Huh?" Cloud said in confusion as his hand flew to the side of his head, his fingers coming back with the brown paste on them. "Mud? But it didn't rain today."

It took the soldier a moment before he could figure out that the cadet was referring to the trip to the infirmary they had taken today. Cloud had dropped a last minute notice that he forgot that he had an appointment that day. Which kinda of surprised Zack because out of the two of them (Shamefully, due to his 2nd Class Soldier status), Cloud was definitely the most responsible out of both of them.

But anyway they had gone to the infirmary this morning and on the way there the cadet had fell down on the way back. Of course the blonde had just brushed it off as a side affect from the doctor drawing blood.

The soldier was only snapped out of his thoughts when the blonde muttered to himself. "Eh, whatever." And started to take his shirt off revealing the too slim body.

Zack was already speechless when the cadet was wet, causing his clothes to cling to him, so Cloud without a shirt on... surprisingly had the opposite effect and gave him some of his voice back.

"Wh-what are doing?" the ravenette stuttered.

The blonde looked up and allowed a confused expression to cross his face. "I'm getting a warmer shirt. It's cold in here."

Those two sentences were enough to make Zack's blood run cold. The shirt that Cloud had been wearing previously was already a long sleeved shirt. And the temperature in the room was fine if anything a little warm. So how could he possibly be cold? Truthfully, he wasn't, it was all in his head. Isn't that what most fevers did? You're a hundred something degrees and then you start thinking you feel cold so you try to warm up. Was that a viruses plan? Make a persons body hotter than it should be, but trick us into feeling cold so that we would just try to increase the fevers ourselves.

_ The soldier walked over to the cadets bed and felt his forehead only to snatch his hand back immediately._

_ "Gaia Cloud, you're burning up. If anything you should be sleeping with you're shirt off instead of a thicker one," he said as he plucked the sweatshirt out of the blondes hands and threw it to some random place in the room._

_ "Zack," Cloud whines and Zack smiles triumphantly knowing that he had gotten the blonde into a much better mood. _

_ "You know that I don't like having my shirt off," he mutters as he tries to cover up as many scars as possible with his tiny hands._

_ The older teen lets out a sigh, realizing that he should have known it wasn't going to be that easy._

_ "Cloud," he began as he slipped the cadet into a hug, "They're not here and they can't touch you. Besides I've already seen your scars and have told you multiple times that, It. Doesn't. Bother. Me." he whispered softly into his ear so that he might actually get that the soldier really didn't mind all the scars on his chest and back. It was pretty sad actually. The cadet had more scars on him then the soldier did._

_ The blond let out a sigh hid his face in the man's shoulder, but he still had nerve to say the word that drove the soldier crazy. "But..-"_

_ "But nothing!" Zack exploded for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Anyway, are you okay?" He asked while pulling back to look back at the teen._

_ It seemed that the cadet was the only one aware of the closeness of the two faces, the proof being the stuttering in the cadets voice. "I-I... feel a little b-better...," all while he was quickly getting lost in the lavender eyes._

_ He could kiss him hear and now. It seemed like the perfect moment. At this rate he was never going to figure out whether Zack liked him or not. It has been months._

_ So he leaned for ward and kissed him._

_ And it was pure bliss._

XXXXX

"Cloud!" someone shouted panicked in his ear while shaking him shoulder roughly. "Come on, Spike. Wake up!"

"Huh?" he said stupidly while blinking rapidly to try and get his vision focused. He looked around the room with wide, feral eyes.

"Why am I on the floor?" the blond questioned the soldier who was currently starring at him with an ineffable amount of concern.

"You fainted after you started to change your shirt. Remember?" Zack answered, expression not changing.

Cloud tried to remember what the soldier was talking about, but instead had a flare of pain in his skull just before he could snatch it. It was right there. He could feel it, but the only thing that was coming to mind was a faint whisper of a memory, almost like a soft caress.

XXXXX

_"Now Cloud remember, this shot is going to result in fainting and short term memory loss when it takes affect and wears off. That way you know for sure when," the doctor said turning around with a needle filled with a purple liquid, in his hand. "You sure you want to do this? The others found much simpler ways."_

_ "Yes, but they don't have 24 hour security hanging over them," the blond said. "You asked me before you made it. You asked me while you made it. And you asked me after you made it. And every time I told you that I was sure about it. That's it."_

_ "Yes, but it's such a risky process-"_

_ "I said _that's it_," he persisted._

_ The doctor let a frustrated growl out before shrugging his shoulders and injecting the liquid into the teens arm._

XXXXX

"No," he lied. That was all it was. The medicine had just wore off.

So he didn't work up the courage to actually tell Zack about how he felt. He didn't kiss him and the ravenette's feelings were still a mystery. That was one of him many reoccurring dreams recently. They all had different situations, but it always ended in the same way. He expressed his feelings for the soldier and the other accepted them, and if the dream was a good one, he returned the feelings.

The soldier smiled faintly and extended a hand out to him to help the boy up. The blond returned the smile in gratitude as Zack heaved him up and let him to the single cot in the room. Cloud didn't have a roommate anymore due to his prolonging illness.

After they had lied down on the cot (the soldier started to just spend the nights with Cloud so that he wasn't panicking 24/7 back at his apartment), Cloud thought for a moment before deciding to ease the tension and start a conversation.

He rolled over to face the ravenette before asking, "So how did it go with Reno and Cissnei?"

"You mean besides those two taking over my home and getting tackled by a girl two thirds my size? Pretty well," he said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

He put a pout on his face when the cadet didn't even try to hide his snicker.

"Getting tackled by Cissnei? Man, your losing your touch _soldier_," he said teasingly.

"Am not! I was just distracted."

"A.K.A. Losing your touch. You didn't take your pills today did you?" the blond accuses him.

"So what if I did? I don't like them. It dulls my emotions." the ravenette defended himself.

"That's pretty much the point Zack."

"Well, Angeal told me as long as I take them before anything SOLDIER related it's fine."

"Did he now?" the cadet smiled as he watched Zack's lips twitch. He never was a good liar.

"Well, he may have worded it a bit differently..." the soldier trailed off.

And the night went on like that, with the bickering and teasing between the two teens until Cloud announced he was tired and lied his head on Zack's shoulder not even giving it a second thought.

**AN: Yes! This is the longest chapter I have ever written! I'm so happy. Some of you may wonder why I spent so much time on another story when I still have True Hearts to update. I have a huge writers block right now. I'm still trying to work out the details, but it's coming! I haven't given up on it. But anyways whenever I have writers block I just write something else. It's usually unpublished one shots, but this one just happened to be a whole story. Review please. It keeps me going. (And I also like to know what people think about my writing.) XD**


	3. Chapter 2

** AN: Well, nothing much to say. Just thanks to the people who reviewed, alerted, and favorited. …. No I lied. I also want to mention this will be heavily influenced by music since, well, you'll piece it together eventually.**

_Third Person_

The sun had just risen in Midgar when Zack woke up to an empty bed. On instinct he called the cadets name. When he got no answer he automatically knew where the blond was. With an audible groan he rolled over and unceremoniously landed onto the hard floor, successfully waking him up.

The soldier trudged through the cadet hallways and turned down a familiar path towards the twenty flights of stairs that led to the roof top of the building. And sure enough once at the top, the cadet was sitting on the edge of the building with his legs dangling, and just slightly so he could just barely hear it, the blond was whispering a song.

_Oh, when they come for me_

_ Come for me_

_ I'll be gone..._

_ And all the people say_

_ Aaaaahhhhhh..._

"Cloud?" the raven regretfully interrupted the melodious sound that was being formed.

He abruptly stopped and turned around with a big smile on his face. The sunrise was setting off a orange glow on the teen's face while the wind playfully tugged at the blond spikes. The whole thing had a warm glow about it, giving the feel of perseverance.

"Hey, Zack," he greeted.

"What was that you were singing just a moment ago?" the soldier queried. He watched as the cadets eyes widened and a flicker of panic flashed in the blue depths before disappearing again. The blond slowly let the smile come back to his face.

"Just something I thought of. It happens a lot when I'm up here," he explained.

"Sounds good," the raven replied before sitting down next to the cadet on the roof.

"Why exactly do you come up here?" he asked and turned his head towards the sky like the boy next to him. It also crossed his mind to ask exactly _how_ Cloud got up here with his condition, but he decided against it.

"You can see everything from up here. It's so high up it's like nothing can touch you. My mother said that's part of the reason she named me," he said.

Zack couldn't help but notice that the cadet practically snarled the word _mother_.

"What do you have against your mother?" the soldier asked.

The cadet turned and gave him a sad look.

"Sorry Zack, but that story's not for today. Or else I'll just be depressed for Shiva knows how long."

Zack wanted to press, but he had saw the underlying warning in the blue depths. They were simply screaming one word at him, _Don't_, as if he already knew what was coming.

Unfortunately, it had taken experience to learn to be able to see that warning. Whenever the young soldier had pushed too far Cloud had taken to taking on a stoic expression and ignoring him for unlimited amounts of time, but not before Zack saw the tears building up. It really tore at the ravens heart to see the blond so haunted.

The cadet had never opened up about to his past to the soldier. Part of the reason was because that same old warning was always there with the subject. He would even wake up screaming unintelligible things, like a different language. Zack thought they were going to take Cloud away from him the first time it happened.

XXXXX

_The pearl white moon was struggling in an inevitable battle to shine past the clouds blocking it's path to earth. It knew though, as the wind carried the glowing objects cries to the people below, that so many were especially in need of guidance tonight. All of them would need guidance at one point or another. Whether it was from itself, or Gaia herself, the planet and all knowing couldn't help but think of what was going to occur without such help._

_ One of these people was in his room with his friend at his side. The blonde didn't want to take the sedatives from the doctor, but Zack wasn't having it. The blond knew what was going to happen if he took them. The memories would plague him. He didn't know if he would be able to contain them when they revealed themselves. And when the time came..._

_ … He wasn't able to._

_ Zack on the other hand was having a much more peaceful sleep. One where he was back at home in Gongaga helping his mother prepare the rest of the dinner while his father went out to butcher the deer. The raven got squeamish at the thought of ripping open a live animal, or just killing anything in general. Funny, see as to what he did for a job now._

_ He was singing along with his mother to an old folk song when a earth shattering scream penetrated the joyful moment. As tortured as it sounded the voice was so familiar almost like- _

_ "HELP! GET AWAY FROM ME!" the shout rang through again abruptly ripping the soldier out of his once pleasant dream._

_ His mako enhanced sight guided him through the night he was also brought to present that there was a frantic thrashing beside him. Cloud._

_ Training had already told him that trying to talk to him was completely useless at this point. Instead, he grabbed the small boy and clutched him to his chest._

_ "Shh... Shh..." he cooed straight into his ear. The boy was wailing so loud that it was most likely impossible that the words would be heard._

_ Slowly, but surely the wails died down. The cadet kept up the silence evening his breath, while listening to the sound of Zack's beating heart._

_ "Kaasan," he mumbled laced with so much anguish that you could cut through it with a knife. The soldier just continued to rub the teens back and whisper sweet nothings._

_ "Anata wa watashi o hochi shinai koto o yakusoku suru?" the cadet said suddenly. When he got no reply he lifted head up and stared straight into the lavender eyes._

_ "Promise!" he yelled this time with such desperation even the Turks wouldn't have been able to say no._

_ "Okay," the soldier said staring straight back. "I promise," he said not even knowing what he was agreeing to._

XXXXX

Zack shook his head at the memory. After that he never forced the cadet to take sedatives again. He also never brought up the promise he made. What would he say? _'Hey Cloud, do you remember the night where you had a mental breakdown and made me promise something. Yeah, what was it?' _There was no way that was going to go down well.

The raven turned his head towards the horizon again. It was almost unfair, the situation. He had opened up about his past multiple times and been there for the cadet through thick and thin.. Shouldn't he at least get to know a little bit besides the the blond grew up in Nibelheim and didn't have a dad.

"Say Cloud after we go to the infirmary," he said waiting for the teen's full attention, "What do you want to do for the day?"

"What do you mean? There's no appointment today." the blond replied with a confused expression on his face.

The raven gave the cadet a slight shove on the shoulder while letting out a chuckle. "You didn't honestly think I'd let you get away with fainting did you?" he said smiling wider when he felt the tension lift from the atmosphere.

"Can't blame a guy for hoping can you?" the teen retorted

"Guess not," the raven said. He got up and offered a hand to the cadet. "Come on. Let's get this over with."

A wide smile spread over the boys face as he accepted the hand. "Yeah, let's go."

XXXXX

The over whelming stench of antioxidants and blood bombarded both teens as they calmly walked through the clear doors of the hospital wing. It just was about eight in the morning by the time they had finally made it across grounds from the roof.

"Zack!" a female voice called out from the other side of the room.

Said teen felt a wide grin plant itself on his face while the blond at his side let out a internal groan.

"Hi, Ann," he greeted warmly, completely oblivious to the bristling cadet beside him.

"Oh Zack," she said giggling like crazy. "Cloud," she added with a terse nod.

"Annabelle," the cadet greeted trying to hold back a sneer. In retrospect the girl had never done anything bad to the teen, not when Zack was around.

"So you here to give me credit for getting into first class yet?" she said while batting her eyelashes like crazy.

"Not yet. We're here to take little chocobo here to the Dr. Pazzo," he replied.

"Just because I have a PhD does not make me crazy Zack," the wise voice said with a slight teasing tone.

The soldier went rigid for a moment before relaxing as he realized the man was in a good mood.

"Dr. Haddix," he corrected as he turned around to face the young wutainese doctor, who was probably in his early thirties. Majority of the female staff looked up to him for his big achievement of becoming a ShinRa issued doctor. Hint- Hint, there's only fifteen for the whole army.

Truth be told, Zack had only seen Dr. Haddix two times. The man had been clad in a white lab coat and neatly combed hair both times, while sporting rectangular glasses.. Now the same man that stood before him was wearing tan cargo shorts along with a grey V-neck. Not to mention his hair made it look like a tornado had blown through. Still had the glasses though.

"Cloud, come discuss what you're in for as I grab your file." the doctor continued paying no mind to the soldier. Just as Zack was about to protest though, the doctor gripped the blondes forearm and dragged him particularly ruffly through the doorway to the private office. One thing that crossed Zack's mind before they flew through the door way was why was the doctor barefoot?

The cadets head was swimming with worries, questions, and plans. Dax (That's what Cloud calls him because Dr. Haddix seemed too formal), had to know the shot had wore off by now. Many people took him for a stern, mean adult, but really the man was a... bubbly person. Yeah... that was it, bubbly. Oh, who was he kidding? The he was _insane_.

"So," he started as he sat down in his leather chair. "Hey Blondie, hey! How's it going friend? Did Zack turn into a prince and swoop in to save the day when you fainted? Wait, I'm being inconsiderate. Are you still sick? How are you feeling?"

"Uh... I'm fine. No, Zack wasn't a prince, but he did catch me before I fell. I don't think I"m sick and I feel... good actually." the cadet replied. The group had gotten used to his rambling after a few weeks. Some because they didn't want to make him feel bad. Dax, rarely let anyone see his true personality, so Cloud took it like an honor.

Cloud could see the million questions starting to surface when a loud ringtone burst through the air.

_'You're the devil. You're a filthy piece of trash. Gotta brush you off my shoulder~gonna let you kiss my ass. You're a diablo, a diablo, a diablo, a diablo-"_

"Hello," the man answered unabashedly. Hell, the man got walked in on while showering by one of his friends and didn't even blush. There was no way he was going to be embarrassed by his ever changing ringtone.

The blond took a moment to think while the conversation went on across the room. He wanted to bite his fingernails out of nerves, but that would raise questions. It was one of the things that got Cloud scared: When Dax was wrong.

No, he wasn't over exaggerating. It was a dam to his emotions just completely disintegrated. No one wanted to be around him in his crazy faze. So that meant Cloud, by default had to deal with it because he was the closest based on where they all lived.

"Hey Cloud, Demyx wants to talk to you," his thoughts were interrupted by that same high pitched voice. Both males eyes widened as they realized the doctor's slip up.

Cloud quickly grabbed the phone from the frozen figures hand and quickly covered up the mistake. "Hey Jake. You're going to _love_ what your big brother Dax just called you." then quickly pulled the phone away from his ear already anticipating the shrill voice that came through the speaker.

"_DID THAT ASSHOLE CALL ME DEMYX AGAIN?"_

"Dead on,"

"_Sorry, I'll have to talk to you later Cloud. Would you be so kind as to pass the phone back to the, Oh So Great Dax._" came the bit out reply.

He spared a glance at said man and was met with the vigorous shaking of the honey hair.

"Gladly" he finally replied into the receiver, mouthing _payback _afterword at the doctor who was gaping at him as he calmly handed him the phone.

Taking this as his chance, Cloud slipped out of the room while Dax tried to explain to his brother that it was an accident. He only wished that he would've of stayed inside the room when he saw the scene that was waiting for him outside.

Annabelle was sitting next to a very jittery Zack in the waiting area, scooting closer every half a second.

"Aww, but it would be fun. We'd be able to do whatever you want?" she kept whispering in a seductive voice while, not so subtly running her hand up his thigh. And- Oh no. Cloud knew that look. She was going to kiss him. Think! Think! Think!

Cloud quickly looked around the room, looking for anything that would help him stop this _crime_ that was happening.

Man with ham sandwich, wheelchair, emergency fire ax, hm... No! He needed to stay on task. Um... There! The intercom.

Throwing all caution to the wind he quickly pressed the button and spoke into the speaker. "_Attention: Annawhor- I mean Annabelle please report to Professor Hojo's lab. Again, please report to Professor Hojo's lab," _he said in the most feminine he could manage, and quickly ducked below the counter before anyone could notice it was him.

When he peaked out from behind the counter he saw the nurse walking his way with a confused look on her face. When she was about 10 feet away he came up with a brilliant idea. It was mean, but she'd tried to kiss his Zack so it was okay right?

Moving quietly, the blond grabbed the broom under the desk next to him and stuck it out a good foot and a half in front of the girl's path.

And just as planned the brunette walked straight into the trap and fell flat onto her face, so perfectly that it looked like it was fresh off the Sunday morning cartoons.

You know how sometimes when someone says/does something hilarious and you laugh so hard that there's no sound? You kinda just sit there looking like a idiot that's choking on thin air. Well, that's what Cloud was doing right now sprawled out on the tile floor, nearly slamming his head on the roof of the desk. He'd been wanting the bitch to do that for _weeks_ now. Parts of his brain were either focused on replaying the image, or committing it to permanent memory. He'd be damned if he forgot this piece of justice.

After he got his laughter under control he waited for Zack everyone else in the room to crowd around her to make sure she was alright. Then when no one was looking he walked out from the other side of the desk unseen and went back inside the hallway from where he just previously was, only to walk back out after counting to ten.

"What happened?" he addressed the group trying to sound as concerned and worried as possible, that was probably ruined by the glee in his eyes.

A pair of angry amber eyes focused on his and the blond really had to fight to not smile.

"You," she hissed, spitting blood on the ground as she did so. "I bet you had something to do with this."

"Nope. I was in the room with Dr. Haddix. You could go deny that logic and get hit with a chair. It fucking hurts." he replied.

Off somewhere in the crowd a person was heard saying, "That's why I had to buy the man another $200 dollar chair?" but was discarded when people started to move away to go back to what they were doing after realizing that the nurse was fine.

Except for Zack. Of course.

Feeling his temper start to go off he decided to do another thing he wasn't proud of.

"Ow," the blond started while stumbling, 'nearly', catching himself on the side of the desk. Automatically, the raven turned his full attention to the teen and went to go grab him.

"Do you need me to carry you back or do you got it?" he asked, completely ignoring the seething girl on the floor.

"I-I think I got it," the cadet followed Zack out the door and just as it was about to shut the blond stuck his head back in and yelled/whispered _whore!_, knowing she could see him.

XXXXX

"So how'd it go with doc?" Zack asked as soon as they got back to his apartment.

The blond hobbled over to the couch and put his head in between his knees. He remembered that from one of his earlier appointments that he should slowly act like he was getting better. It'd be too much of a miracle in such a short amount of time. He heard the faint sound of the T.V. clicking and the seat dipping beside him.

_"Tonight on Inside-Out Stars we report to you about the last show for the new album Meteora by Three Days Grace(1) and Sora Parks release of 8bit Heart."_

Upon hearing that, Cloud's head snapped up. "Did she say Three Days Grace?"

Zack's puffy, sandwich filled cheeks greeted him as he turned to get his answer. "Pheah, why?" the soldier tried to reply, but the teen had already turned his attention back to the T.V.

_ "Well that sounds like quite a mix of genres doesn't Cheryll?" another female voice cut in._

_ "Actually word going around is that the band and Sora are co-writing songs, maybe even a new album."_

_ "Now that would be interesting considering that both artists have so many genres by themselves. A Nu-Metal band mixed with a hip-hop artist. That'll be something to look forward to. Now-"_

Did one of the guys let the slip _again_? If they did there was going to be hell to pay.

"Cloud!" the shout snapped him out of his trance. He shook his head and turned to face the raven that finally put his plate of 'food' down on the coffee table.

"What?"

"What's up with that head of yours? You've been spaced out ever since they started talking." The soldier looked really concerned as he started to bounce his leg out of anxiety. A steady pink started to dust the pale face of his best friend. The ever feared glint decided to make itself known in his eyes.

"You like that band don't you Spikey?" Zack started, the teasing all too present.

_You have no idea,_ the cadet thought before sheepishly nodding his head.

A large groan escaped the soldier as he threw his head back and dramatically fell onto the rest of the sofa. Cloud felt a small spark of desire at the sight, but he quickly pushed it down. Now was not the time for his stupid hormones.

"What's wrong with that?" he said, soundly slightly choked, as he desperately tried to distract himself.

"There's nothing wrong with it. I just wish you would of told me that earlier. We watched their last concert for their meter-something tour last night." came the guilt filled reply.

"Meteora," he corrected the older teen. He paused and glanced at the soldier to see he wasn't looking at him. The blond worried his upper lip for a second before decided to take another theoretical step forward.

He grabbed the soldier's hand and shifted to lie down next to him. He could feel the raven's body tense for a moment before relaxing and rolling to face the teen.

"I think I'm starting to feel better Zack," the cadet murmured looking straight into the lavender eyes.

The soldier squeezed the blond's hand as a big smile spread out over his face. "That's good Spike, that's really good," he said a little breathlessly as he brought the teen into a tight hug. "How long?"

"Dr. Haddix said a few more days and I'll be brand new. He also said that the fainting was just a effect of my body using so much energy driving out the virus." was the gleeful reply.

"So it's gone?" the raven asked his voice barely able to contain his excitement.

"Yep, completely"

"_YES!_" the shout filled the air and echoed as the soldier lifted them both from the sofa and swung the blond around a few times before just hugging him. When he pulled away he noticed the boy was considerably paler.

"Sorry. Forgot, motion sickness" he said quickly stepping back a foot or two to give the guy some space.

Cloud let out a chuckle. "Zack it's fine. You deserve to celebrate. And I thank you for being there for me the whole time from start to finish." Letting his own grin on his face as the soldier did.

"I gotta go tell Cissnei and Reno!" the raven yelled as quickly ran over to put his boots on and was out the door in thirty seconds flat. Blue eyes landed on the laminated keycard on the counter and called out, "Oi! You forgot something!"

A blur of black came rushing in the door and went right past the counter and to the cadet.

"You're right. Thanks Spikey." Zack replied and started to heft the small boy into his arms.

"What are you doing?" the teen shouted as the ground was ripped away from him.

"Can't go bragging without my trophy now can I?" was his light-hearted reply as he started to rush out the door to only be stopped by the blond to grab his keycard before he forgot it again.

Cloud shook his head as the hallway rushed pass him in a big blur. The man would just never learn.

**AN:** (1) **Oh my gosh, it was so hard to type that. I probably accidentally wrote Linkin Park at least five times, maybe more. Why can't they just be two bands? No that would never work out for this story...**

** Well, that's the second chapter of Guarded! Was it any good? It feels kinda random, but I'm going to leave it as it is because I like the tiny bits of humor here and there. I have plans for Dax... Also what do ya think Sora's doing there? Please review!**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Excitement and ****a little bit of confusion/revealing in this chapter. Feel free to ask questions after if something doesn't make sense. I just got the sudden urge to have a certain someone find out the truth. Also I am very impatient when it comes to climaxes of stories, but I'm restraining myself and writing this instead. But I did add a nice attempt at humor in the middleish, you'll know when you start reading it.**

_Third Person_

After Reno, Cissnei, and Zack had gone through their celebration of the Cloud's new health, the blonde never wanted to see another glass of whiskey, vodka, or any alcohol ever again. Granted Zack couldn't get drunk, but that didn't mean the Turks couldn't. The party had actually been going really well until a nearly vomiting Reno, decided to try and kiss the cadet. Nearly did too, but Zack ran over and ripped the teen out of the man's arms, giving a few choice words, before running back to his apartment to bombard him questions.

So Cloud brought out the big guns.

Leading to where they currently were now, watching the Vampire Diaries on T.V. It was one of the few things that could keep Zack distracted.

"Stab him, stab him, stab him, stab him, stab him!" Zack chanted while leaning forward from on their stomachs on the floor.

"It's really amazing how smart they are to stake the right person," the raven said in awe.

"More like stupid." the blond threw in.

"Why?" he asked genuinely not tearing his gaze away from the screen as Stefen and Elena ran away from the house with the vampires from the tomb.

"Think about it. They stab a stake or some other wooden object through someone's heart to kill the vampires. Only problem is that _anyone_ would die of wood going through their heart. A human, vampire, hell- even a werewolf would die. It proves nothing. Same thing with fire."

"Never thought about it that way... What about vervain?" and the conversation kept going on like that until the show ended and the next one came on.

"_Here on Inside-Out Stars we bring you the news of-"_

"Ugh, why?" Cloud groaned as he put his arm over his eyes dramatically. He hated the show to be honest.

_"Last night we also got many requests to talk about the absence of Noctis, the drummer for Three Days Grace. It is said that the member had a family crisis and had to take a temporary leave,"_

_ "Yes and while most people would have cancelled with such a loss, they surprised us yet again by still going on with the show. Of course eventually a substitute had to step in to get on the guitar here and there, but other than that the show went on smoothly. Now Roxas, the lead singer, Axel, the everything, Demyx, the lead guitarist, and Zexion, the bassist, and of course Noctis, the drummer as we have already mentioned, make up the band that won best new artist, along with best rock at-"_

"That's real amazing isn't it? I see why you like them so much," the soldier cut in.

The blond turned to look at him. Those few words made him feel light and happy.

"Thanks Zack. That means a lot to me," he said. Shortly following his comment he could of swore he heard the raven say 'The lead singer Roxas is damn hot too.', but he chose to ignore it.

After a little bit of decision he moved and snuggled into Zack's chest, another step. His dreams kept replaying in his head over and over, as if urging him on to help Zack into telling the truth.

Even if Cloud had to kiss him himself.

XXXXX

After a little bit Cloud noticed the soldier was starting to yawn a little as he watched the news over his shoulder.

He gently shook the ravens shoulder. "Come on, lets go to bed," he said as he started haul himself up from the ground. Zack let out a whine, but got up too and proceeded to his room. Cloud was about to follow him when a thought hit him. He wasn't sick anymore. Zack didn't have to care for him and be by his side every night now. After all they were just_ friends_.

"Hey!" the ravens voice cut in and knocked him out of his thoughts. "Are you coming in?"

"Zack... I'm all better," he choked out feeling a burn behind his eyes.

"Hey, come here," he said in a comforted tone as he wrapped his arms around the blond. "It's true right?" he added fearfully after a moment.

Golden spikes bounced up and down vigorously as he tried to confirm that he was in fact fine. "Of course, it's just... I'm scared youwontbearoundanymore," he mumbled the last part so quiet that all the soldier heard was inaudible sounds.

"What?"

Cloud gulped it took him almost everything to say it the first time, he really didn't want to say it again.

"I'm scared t-that you won't b-be around anymore-" and abruptly broke off into sobs. He couldn't understand what came over him. Just that a sudden feeling of dread was choking him. Why did he always have to be so weak?

To say that Zack was shocked was an understatement. Didn't anything that had happened for the past few months mean anything to him? Although deep down through all the sadness there was a warm glow starting that the teen actually did in fact care so much about their time together.

The next movement was completely on impulse, with no thought whatsoever. He placed his lips on the pale forehead and rested his head on top of the spikes. The lavender eyes didn't catch the look of surprise and bliss on the boys face.

"We may not be together every night now, but..." the soldier paused and swept the blond into his arms only to dump him on the bed. "But that doesn't mean we have to start tonight."

The raven then proceeded to get in the bed when a something soft hit him in the face.

"Even after the most serious moments ever you still manage to be so childish," he sighed as he looked at the culprit. The raven waited until the cerulean eyes softened a bit before hitting the blond with a pillow of his own.

"Did Mr. Strife just hit _me_ with a-"

"-Bag of feathers? Yes, I'm sorry if that hurt too much for you to bare. I be sure to spread word of the great effects of mako." the blond cut in with a mock salute only to be promptly hit with a pillow about a millisecond later.

Off somewhere down the hall a very tired Genesis was nearly pulling his hair out in frustration from the commotion down the hall. All the man wanted to do was read his Loveless book. Was that too much to ask?

When another thump and shout reached his ear the redhead found himself storming down the hall with deathly intent in his eyes. His anger only intensified when the noise didn't stop when he slammed the door open, in fact it got louder.

What met his eyes in that instant was the last straw. These two kept distracted him for a fucking _pillow fight_?

Ah hell no.

XXXXX

Angeal was having a perfectly normal day. Lots of paperwork and reading the mission reports. Yeah the elder was happy to say in the least. That was until the receptionist called to tell him that he was wanted in Zack's apartment. He slowly made his way down to the elevator and across the hall to hear yelling and bangs echoing through the corridor.

He was expecting to see Zack with his hands knotted in his shoelaces again or with burnt food on his plate, hell even the blond and the raven sitting on the couch waiting to be entertained. So this was the last thing the soldier thought he'd see was Genesis with Zack's hair in one of his hands, while beating him with a steel toed boot. The blond on the other hand was sitting calmly on the bed with a ham sandwich watching the pair with gleaming eyes.

"Care to explain Cloud?" he said after recovering from shock.

The blond gave him a devious smile while shaking his head. Angeal took this time to notice that there were feathers in his hair. He laughed quietly to himself, if you didn't pay attention they almost blended right in. Chocobo, no doubt.

"_ZACKARY FAIR AND GENESIS RHAPSODOS WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"_ his voice boomed throughout the entire floor. The two men immediately stopped to stare at the general for a moment before they let the gates open.

"Genesis started it! I was just trying to have a nice friendly pillow fight with Cloud and-"

"I am not at blame here! These two fuckheads were interrupting my reading! There was nothing _friendly _about it when I got in here!-"

Angeal sighed and waited for them to stop rambling and picked out a few keywords to the story. Pillow fight, fun, annoying, interrupted, and idiot.

"Okay so let's see if I got this right-" he tried to say, but the two kept going on. He sighed exasperatedly and turned to the cadet who was still sitting on the bed for help. The blond seemed to be getting tired of it too so he nodded his head in agreement. Angeal couldn't help but wonder what he was going to do to stop them.

Cloud opened his mouth and took in a long breath and then screamed out, not quite from pain, but almost musically.

"_PAIN!" _

In the next few moments he found himself watching Genesis fly across the room and Zack magically appearing at the teen's side with a worried look.

"What's wrong?" the raven said carefully, scared of provoking the blond.

"Nothing! You two were just being childish," was the bland reply. He couldn't help, but smile when the lavender eyes lit up again once reassured.

While they were sharing their moment, Angeal had pulled his unconscious comrade out of the apartment and back to the redhead's room. No need for him to remember this...

XXXXX

It was later now and the two had fallen asleep after a little bit. At least one of them did. The blonde however was in the living room staring at the screen of his iPhone, as if he was willing it to bring him a message. It had been nearly three days since he last checked his non-ShinRa issued phone. It wasn't like he had the opportunity much. It would only raise questions as to why the poor country boy had the new, expensive, top of the line technology. People would either do one of three things.

One, they would steal it. Two, they would accuse him of stealing it. Or three they would do whatever they wanted. He thought, come on it was a fucking _iPhone _why wouldn't you want one? … You know what? He didn't need an answer to that.

A slight buzzing informed him that he had a message. He quickly checked the sender before getting too excited.

_Axel._

The teen couldn't help, but let out a little squeak as he read the message.

_Axel: Hey Roxas, Noctis says we need to get back to the studio tomorrow. Can you make it?_

He thought for a moment before replying. Cursing, whenever he hit the wrong keys multiple times. See? This was why he needed to be able to get on his phone more often. Alternating between keyboards was hard.

_Roxas: Yeah, we just never get a break do we? Did you talk to Demyx recently?_

_ Axel: Is that really even a question? Of course. That drama queen can't even keep his mouth shut about his new wardrobe. I got every fucking detail about how his stupid brother called him Demyx over a ShinRa issued phone and blah, blah, blah. Drama, drama, drama, something about designer jeans and then I hung up._

_ Roxas: How kind._

_ Axel: Oh shut up. He's used to it by now. See ya tomorrow Rox._

As short as the conversation was it really lifted the blond's heart to be able to talk to one of his best friends. One of the few people he could be himself around. He was a famous musician and still had self-esteem issues when it came to being around people.

He sat there shocked for a moment. Sure, he had acknowledged that he had a double life, but the blonde hadn't really ever put this much thought into it in a long time. It wasn't as simple as it seemed.

2+2 _so_ did not equal four for this problem. No one would ever think that Cloud Strife equaled the rocker Roxas Bennington. He gave himself credit though. Most people would crack under a lie this big. It wasn't necessarily how big the lie was that bothered him, it was who he had to keep it from. As mean as it was he didn't mind lying to people he didn't know in order to get peace. No, it was the people he cared about that he didn't like leaving out the truth.

Zack, Angeal, Genesis and- well actually that was it. Sad really.

"Cloud? What are you doing out here?" some one said from behind him. The blond promptly let out a shriek and jumped only to realize it was Zack with relief and horror.

"Z-Zack I-" he tried but he couldn't get the words out.

"What's that in your hand?" the raven kept questioning.

The cadet found himself speechless and unable to answer the questions that were being thrown at him. The raven seemed to be fed up with his sputtering and took the device out of the blond's hand.

"Why in the the world would you have an iPhone?"

Shit.

**AN: Dun Dun Dunnn. I'm SO SORRY it's so short I just had to post something today because it's 11/11/11 and I'm going to post this at 11:11PM so This is sort of a filler chapter with a twist. I might go back later and make it longer. Maybe not, depending on whether you guys want me to or not. But seriously tell me if you guys have questions. That's a part of the mystery! Please review! XD **

** P.S. Sorry for my rambling, I'm rushing.**


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